


The Butterfly Effect

by Denniso



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Chloé Bourgeois Redemption, Gen, Happy Ending, Identity Reveal, Light Angst, Temporary Character Death, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:26:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26898154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Denniso/pseuds/Denniso
Summary: To no one's surprise, Chloe becomes the akuma's catalyst yet again, making Ladybug and Chat's mission almost impossible. Little did everyone know how devastating this simple akuma might become with the blonde's actions added to the equation. Will it be enough to lead Chloe to clarity?
Comments: 7
Kudos: 24





	1. Idiot

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Welcome to my first attempts at writing! I've been carrying this idea for a really long time, but the time has finally come for me to start posting it! I'm excited! And a whole lot nervous! Please don't hesitate to point out my mistakes in the comments! 
> 
> Huge thanks to [Khanofallorcs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khanofallorcs/), [YaBoiBellabean](https://archiveofourown.org/users/YaBoiBellabean) and [MarinetteAgresteBrand](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarinetteAgresteBrand) for beta reading! You guys are the best!
> 
> Special thanks to [Ladybuginette](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladybuginette) for helping me figure out the posting process and being an enormous support all the way through!

_My name’s Chloe Bourgeois. And this is the story of how I died._

* * *

“Chat! Stop fooling around!” yelled a girl in a red polka-dotted costume as she was once again saving her partner from getting hit.

This akuma was supposed to be a simple job but became one hell of an impossible task. And it almost certainly had something to do with a certain cat-themed superhero.

The victim of the akuma was apparently some amateur sportsman. Something pissed him off. _Someone_. He called himself ‘Slugger’ and looked like a ten foot pile of muscles, and, obviously, was extremely fond of throwing everything around.

Their battle took place near Charles de Gaulle Square. Fortunately, most civilians successfully fled the square so the heroes didn’t have to worry about casualties. Unfortunately, however, the akuma had more than enough cars, buses, and overwhelming large objects to use as projectiles to throw at them. 

Although the villain was slow and clumsy, the heroes still couldn’t find their way to him. And this time it wasn’t only Chat’s absent-mindedness and determination to make puns to blame, because on that day, at that very moment, out of all the people in Paris, it was Chloe who became their burden in the akuma attack. And as if that wasn’t enough, she had to protect her after what Chloe had gone and done to her that day.

But there it was, a chance opening. Between his throws, Slugger had to renew his arsenal; Ladybug decided that it was her chance to make a move. With a quick nod to her partner, she readied herself to throw her yo-yo at the akuma but was stopped in her tracks when somebody placed a hand on her shoulder. Marinette instantly knew who that somebody was, as Chloe, in a high-pitched voice, reminded the superheroine about her presence.

“I, for one, don’t want to waste my time like this, Ladybug,” Chloe said blankly. “At this rate, I’ll be late basically everywhere. Could you speed this battle-thingy up?” 

And, quite possibly with Chloe being Chloe, that particular day was the major reason why everything went from bad to worse in the span of a nanosecond.

“Chloe!” Ladybug shouted angrily. “Goddamn it! All you have to do is sit still and try not to—”

A sharp pain put an abrupt halt to the Parisian superheroine’s cautionary speech because all at once, everything became a blur. Apparently, while she was distracted, Slugger had managed to renew his “ammunition” and socked her with a fire hydrant. As her consciousness threatened to fade, Ladybug debated whether or not to scream that it hurt like a bitch. Even though she’d taken worse hits, even though it was just a fire hydrant, it still hurt.

And that minor water accident could have easily been avoided had Chat been close enough to help her out. But alas he had already bolted towards the akuma and could not have noticed that his Lady got distracted. Or had Chloe not acted like her usual self.

_Why is everything always like that?_ Marinette thought, feeling raging fire starting inside as she was shaking her head. She could barely see anything in front of her, every sound suddenly became muffled as if she were wearing headphones of some sort and her attempts to bring herself up were futile. 

Marinette found herself helplessly splattered on the cold asphalt. She slowly raised her head and saw the unconcerned gaze of the blonde with just a grain of empathy hidden somewhere deep in her big blue eyes. Chloe regarded Ladybug for a solid few seconds as that was all she needed to get the confirmation that the heroine was alright. Ladybug vaguely heard her saying something along the lines of “...I really can’t stay here, this battle is getting ridiculous,” and started her sudden, triumphant, and all the more stupid escape from the akuma battlefield. Marinette couldn’t quite catch what Chloe said, but she definitely understood that the blonde was about to do something completely idiotic.

Through swirling pain in her head, Ladybug struggled to stand on her legs and unsuccessfully tried to catch Chloe’s hand. But it was an attempt which the blonde didn’t care enough about.

And that wouldn’t last long. The last thing Chloe heard was someone’s, Chat’s probably, terrified scream. In the blink of an eye, something hit her from behind, dropping her to the ground. Next came the close acquaintance with asphalt and terrible and sudden pain. Before she knew it, she lost consciousness, mostly because of shock, rather than pain. 


	2. Villain

Her awakening struck her like a bolt of lightning, making her open her eyes swiftly and jump up on her bed. Chloe did so in one quick movement, as if she hadn't been sleeping at all. Should anyone see her in that state, considering her shortness of breath, they would probably conclude that she at least was running or playing soccer and only her sleepy and vacant look served as a dead giveaway that she was, in fact, sleeping. Or she was sleepwalking. Sleeprunning? That's awful.

Chloe absently blinked a few times and looked around, slapping her own face. With a loud groan, she fell on her back and hid under the blanket.

That dream. _Yet again_ , she thought to herself in frustration. _Something like that just can't happen to me. Why am I the one who acts so dumb in them? If anything will ever happen to me, I surely will be the last to blame. I can easily believe that Chat or Ladybug will screw something up. Me? Impossible._

Chloe angrily kicked the blanket away and snatched a quick look at the clock on the nightstand near her bed and then reverted her eyes to the ceiling, sinking deep into her own thoughts. She had an important day ahead. Too important to allow some lousy akuma or those damned superheroes to try to ruin it. Everything had to be just perfect. Today, she was ready to send away even her own death, should it find the nerve to get in her way. 

Today was the day when they were supposed to know the results of the fashion competition organized by Gabriel Agreste himself, with the reward being a European tour alongside Adrien and his father. And Chloe had already put way too much time, money, and effort into this victory. All this time spent with all those overrated fashion designers just to be able to take part in this competition. And don't even get her started on the time wasted on convincing judges from different stages of the competition to make sure her work would acquire a decent amount of points to get through. Chloe just could not allow herself to lose now. She just couldn't. Not at the last moment. After all, out of all the people in her class, there wasn't anyone who could compete with the works of actual professional fashion designers. The only girl who could be was...

A quiet knock on her door made Chloe abandon her thoughts halfway through. One of the staff members wanted to know if Chloe had woken up, and told her it was time to start her morning routine or else she'd be late for school.

  
  


"I'm up! I'm awake!" the blonde hissed loudly. Obviously, her usual attitude was present and functioning normally. "How can I sleep at all while I have to deal with those constant stupid nightmares", Chloe mumbled to herself, rubbing her eyes angrily as she struggled to get out of her bed. 

It was a decent morning. Very Chloe-like one. She had her opportunity to shout at everyone unlucky enough to get in her way and she even took it out on Sabrina because she pissed the blonde off, and even though Chloe knew that Sabrina's intentions were somewhat good, the girl had clearly gone too far. 

"Nobody is allowed to control me like that! Not even you!" Chloe shouted as the poor girl was running away in tears.

Quite a joyful experience, if you asked her. Not that she actually was fond of hurting other people's feelings — she wasn’t a dementor or anything, but she couldn't deny that she was happy to be in control of everything that happened to and around her.

The day at school did not start all that well. Because of that dream and her quite chaotic morning, she was late for class. And it didn't look as though things would start to improve anytime soon. For one, Adrien was absent, for the other, Marinette was looking almost _too_ happy. And Sabrina, evidently, was way too mad at her to even attend school that day. Those things combined made Chloe very nervous as she was finding herself staring at her rival every other minute for the rest of the morning. And it was only before the afternoon break that Chloe found out the reason for Marinette's happiness. 

Just before the bell rang, Mlle. Bustier announced the changes to the competition.

Their teacher started by saying that neither the judges for the last stage of the competition nor Gabriel Agreste himself could choose the single winner, so they decided that there would be two winning places. Chloe felt her eyes were twitching slightly.

"And they have chosen..." Chloe's heart skipped a bit upon hearing those words.

First, come "Chloe Bourgeois". Which, frankly speaking, wasn't a surprise to her at all, but when she heard the second winner's name, she was ready to step out of the window without thinking for a moment. 

  
  


"...And Marinette Dupain-Cheng! Congratulations, girls!"

  
  


The bell rang and everyone in the class released a collective relieved sigh and started to pick up their things before going to lunch. 

Chloe felt like a wave of scary, uncontrollable anger started to wash all over her. Her heart, that Chloe quite forgot was still working, was now back on track, determined to try its hardest to beat its way out of her chest. Some time had passed, Chloe wasn't quite sure how much exactly when she found herself sitting on the stairs of the schoolyard. Dozens, even hundreds, of different thoughts and ideas were swirling through her head. Thoughts and ideas about how to expel that darn raven-haired girl from Chloe's perfect vacation with Adrien. And if that wouldn't work, she could try to make sure Marinette would be forever sorry for even thinking about participating in that competition.

And one of these ideas stuck with her. A vicious smile started to plaster over her lips as she was considering that idea, her eyes never leaving Marinette, who was happily discussing something with Alya. Her hands shaking, Chloe took her phone out of her purse and opened the messaging app. She slowly, yet still making typos in every other word, typed out her plan, sending the message without thinking twice.

Her plan was set in motion, and the reaction was swift. Only about five minutes have passed since, and Chloe already saw the teacher coming over to Marinette. She enjoyed watching her rival’s reaction to Mlle. Bustier's words. The raven-haired girl instantly dropped her gaze to the ground. Alya quickly jumped on her feet, her annoyed and fierce scream scattered across the yard. 

"What do you mean she can't go?!" Their teacher only shrugged at Alya's protests.

And as Chloe silently congratulated herself, the sky above them quickly darkened. 

_Can this day actually get any worse? Now it's going to rain, isn't it? Just perfect"_ Chloe thought to herself, with a look of disgust on her face.

Before she knew it, somewhere out of those dark clouds, the bright figure appeared and without hesitation floated towards her. It was a young girl in an unreasonably bright and colorful suit. Chloe felt shivers going down her spine. She knew this akuma victim all too well. 

"I'm Mistress!" the young woman shouted, looking angrily at Chloe. "You wanted to control everything? But what would you do if someone would control you?

Akuma sharply flicked her wrist, sending a bright blue beam of light towards Chloe. The blonde only could close her eyes shut and brace herself for impact, which never came. Chloe fearfully opened her eyes and carefully regarded herself. Nothing had changed? 

"And that's all you can do?" Chloe mocked her. "Ruin the weather and make fireworks? It's not nearly enough to~"

Chloe stopped, her words caught in her throat. She felt that she had literally lost control over her own tongue. All she could do now was to gasp for air like a stranded fish. 

An unpleasant, scary feeling of helplessness started to wash all over her body and in a second she had already lost control of her whole body, as if she had suddenly become someone else's puppet. She wanted to scream; she wanted to run, but she couldn't. Chloe felt hot tears trailing down her cheeks, tears of indignation, frustration, and despair. Chloe slowly managed to close her eyes. The surrounding sounds became bleak and her thoughts lost coherence. It seemed like she was falling asleep. And eventually, she did.


	3. Daydreamer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, took me long enough to continue, eh?  
> Oh, welp, hope you'll enjoy this chapter!

* * *

Chloe woke up noting that she was laying on something soft. The blonde had little to no desire to even try to open her eyes.

_‘And what was that? Another dream? I'm not falling for that again. I will lay down here and not move a muscle. Gosh, am I going mad?’_ Chloe thought to herself.

She stretched her arms to the sides and tried to grab the bedsheet. She failed to do so because there was no bedsheet for her to grab. Immediately, she opened her eyes but had to close them shut again as she found herself surrounded by an unwelcoming, cold, bright light. It took her a couple of minutes to adapt to the light, as it was aggressively trying to burn her retina to ashes. At first glance, she thought that there was only white emptiness around her. It took her a solid few minutes to fully understand that she wasn't wrong with her initial thought. 

"What is going on?" Chloe asked rustily. This sequence of waking up wasn't the smoothest. "Where the hell am I?

"Those are very good questions, Mademoiselle Bourgeois.” came a familiar voice, though Chloe couldn't pinpoint the exact direction it was coming from.

Frowning, Chloe stared down at the emptiness in front of her, yet she couldn't quite catch anything. It was as if she were sitting in some sort of a cage.

"Well, where are you then?" The voice sounded as if it was both very close and yet very far from her. "If I'm blind now, I am going to kill someone". 

"Wow, Chlo, there's no need for such violence.” The voice came closer and she felt a soft touch on her shoulder, which made her jump on her feet and turn around. 

"Adri..." she started but stopped halfway through. It wasn't Adrien's voice. It was Chat Noir's instead. How could she mix up their voices? "Chat? What are you doing here?"

"Well, Chloe, frankly, I did not expect that question," Chat answered, apparently confused. "For your information, I am a big fan of big secluded white spaces. Such irony, don't you think? The question is: what are you doing here?"

"I..."Memories from before she woke up flooded her mind. In great waves, many thoughts came crashing down on her. She felt dizzy and nearly lost her balance. Fortunately, Chat was there and caught her in his arms.

It was unreasonably hard to distinguish between dreams and reality. What, if anything, was real by that point? Was Mistress real? Or that akuma before that? Crazy. She was losing her mind for sure.

"That's better," Chat said, his hands still holding her close.

"Are you a telepath now, you mangy cat?" Chloe muttered.

"I don't have to be able to read your mind when I can see everything in those big beautiful eyes of yours..." Chat whispered passionately. 

_‘Is this really happening?’_ the thought raced through her mind. She wasn't quite sure if it was her initial shock or something else that paralyzed her, but her senses left her and she was, yet again, losing control over her actions. The reason behind it this time was very much different and much less frustrating. 

That was not Adrien. So why was she so drawn to him then?

She found herself staring at those damned glaring green eyes of his. She was now standing on her feet, Chat’s hands still holding her tight. Chloe moved a bit closer, her hands resting on his chest.

"Chat?” she asked with a slight cough, trying to swallow a sudden lump in her throat.

"Yes?" he whispered in response.

"What's happening?"

He didn't answer and leaned a bit, eliminating the distance between them. 

And the moment she felt his soft lips on hers, Chat pulled away.

Catching confusion in her eyes, he smirked widely and raised his hand. 

With a snap of his clawed fingers, the bright green light broke out and Chloe instinctively covered her eyes.

***

"What the hell?" Chloe whispered, not finding the courage to look around.

With her eyes closed, she decided that she should concentrate on her other feelings. It didn't take her too long to understand how her surroundings changed drastically. She didn't even have to see it. Chloe felt a pleasant breeze enveloping her legs. Somewhere above her head, she heard a faint noise of leaves rustling. 

_‘That's new,’_ she thought, slowly shaking her head.

Finally, she gathered enough strength to open her eyes and look around.

The place she found herself in was familiar, yet the fact that she recognized it didn't help to answer any of the questions swirling inside her head. In fact, the place alone just confused her even more. And Chloe didn't even think _that_ was possible. 

She was in the park in the center of the city. And even though everything around her seemed familiar, she also felt like something was wrong, like something was different.

She heard two kids running around the trees nearby. Chloe turned her head toward the sound of their voices and saw a boy and a girl having fun, playing.

What the actual…? Was that actually…?

"Cute kids, right?" Chloe heard a familiar voice right behind her.

"Chat! Goddamn it!" she screamed, instantly jumping to her feet.

"Wow, Chloe," said Chat Noir, backing up and raising his hands in defense. "Who did you expect to meet here? Adrien Agreste himself?"

Chloe caught herself thinking about his last words. She did remember how she had recently mixed up the voice of the cat-themed superhero with the voice of her close friend. 

And it was recently… wasn’t it?

_‘No.’_ Chloe decided that it wasn't the best time to think about that. It would raise too many questions. And she wasn't sure she was ready to know the answers.

"Well, you know what? That would be great. A nice change from...whatever we have here," Chloe mumbled to herself as she lowered her gaze.

"So that's how we're gonna roll? Fine", Chat said with a fake frown. "If that's what you want, it's cool with me. Stay with your precious Adrien for however long you want."

"I would've, but there's only..." she started. Another flare of green light stopped her and before she could open her eyes, Chloe knew that Chat Noir disappeared without a trace. Again. "There's only you."

Confused, the blonde slowly shook her head, completely losing her grip on what exactly was going on around her.

  
  
  


"Got you, Adrien! You're it!" Chloe heard the voice of the girl she had been watching before. 

Chloe's brain clung to the familiar name and she turned to the kids, eyes wide open. 

"Not for long, Chlo,” Adrien laughed.

_‘This is ridiculous... It's not possible,’_ Chloe thought, slowly trying to process the reality of what actually was happening. 

Yes, Chloe remembered that specific day. But she did not remember meeting her older self from the future. That did not happen. She would know. She was there!

Right...?

Chloe looked down, checking herself. And she finally noticed the elephant in the room— the one she didn't notice before.

Her body was radiating a weird, gloomy light.

Terrified, the blonde started to aggressively wave her hands as if she were trying to physically push the light out of her body. However, she had no success whatsoever.

And another round of shivers ran down her spine when she gazed up and saw that the little girl, her younger self, was looking straight at her. 

Swallowing a sudden lump in her throat, Chloe, terrified yet curious, stared back at the girl for a few long seconds.

Younger Adrien tagged the girl's shoulder and interrupted their staring contest.

"You're it!" he proclaimed, laughing. It didn't take him long to see that his friend Chloe was looking seemingly at nothing under that big old tree. "Chlo? Are you alright?"

Another few moments had passed before younger Chloe finally averted her gaze and shook her head. She turned back to her friend as if she never saw Chloe at all. 

"Yeah, I am!" she nearly shouted, smacking Adrien's shoulder. "But you're it!"

Laughing out loud, the kids ran away, leaving Chloe alone with the overwhelming storm of emotions. She could barely keep them in check.

She lowered her gaze to her shaking hands, feeling tears gathering at the corners of her eyes.

Noir was right. She was, in fact, a very cute kid. Nowadays, barely anyone she knew would refer to Chloe using that word. This situation, these memories, these feelings were brought to life again while she wanted them to stay dead forever. She thought they were long lost and forgotten. She was wrong.

"I want to go home" Chloe cried out, burying her face into her palms. She couldn't control her feelings anymore. "I just don't..."

Suddenly she felt the soft touch of a familiar hand. Familiar paw? The familiar clawed glove that belonged to someone she sent away not that long ago.

Overwhelmed by her emotions, Chloe took her hands away from her face and launched herself into the arms of the cat superhero, who was sitting near her on the grass.

"Chat!" she sobbed, "I don't understand what's going on. I want to go home. I'm scared, Chat."

He gently hugged her, softly stroking her shoulder. 

"There, there. I'm here, everything will be alright," Chat whispered. "I never leave my friends in their time of struggle."

His last words caught her attention yet again.

_’Friends’_.

There weren't many people who, with a straight face, could've said that they were friends with Chloe. 

There was Sabrina, of course, but Chloe knew full well why the red-haired girl clung to their friendship. And Chloe even blamed herself for that. Sometimes. 

Then there was Adrien, her oldest friend. They had been together since they were kids. They were once as close as possible. They used to spend all of their spare time together. 

But...

Chloe returned her gaze to Chat and arched her eyebrow in confusion. 

"Friends you say, Noir?" she asked, carefully examining his big green eyes. "We barely know each other so what makes you think that we're..."

Her voice trailed off. The realization hit her like a truck. The collision of that truck with the wall of her blindness was stronger than she could bear to take.

Adrien was Chat Noir. And he had been for a long time. She wasn't quite ready for that turn of events.

Chat slowly lowered his eyes, mundanely stroking the grass with his free hand. 

"Tell you what, Chlo," Chat said thoughtfully. "You were one cute girl and you were my friend. My only friend. But years have passed and I feel like I'm losing you, Chloe, and I don't want to lose you. I believe... No, scratch that, I know for a fact that you aren't the person that you appear to be."

Chloe pushed his hands away and jumped to her feet. She was still shaking, not from the pain or misery, but from fury and anger. 

"How dare you, Agreste?!" she cried out, outraged. "I am who I am! And it's not up to you to decide what I should change about myself! Nor is it something you have the power to change..."

Her voice trailed off as she fell on her knees, burrowing her face into her palms.

And Chat Noir... No. It was Adrien. Or was it...?

Chat raised his head slightly, carefully looking into her eyes. 

"If anyone can change that, it's me, Chlo,” Chat answered, standing up. He looked down, holding his hand out to her. "Trust me."

Chloe looked around fearfully and with slight hesitation grabbed his hand, letting him pull her up.

Chat looked into her eyes, a giant smirk plastered on his lips.

He snapped his finger, and a bright light flashed.

***

This time Chloe didn't close her eyes and she was able to carefully examine that green light washing over them. In a blink of an eye, she realized that the bright daylight was gone and had been replaced with the dim luminescence of the moon and the stars.

She blinked a few times, eyes adapting to the darkness, 

As she looked around, Chloe felt shivers marching down her spine. Her entire body shook as soon as she recognized the place where Chat placed her. But it wasn’t the "where" part that made her anxious and scared. It was "when" part that did it.

It was these memories she had been trying to suppress, this pain she was trying to soothe with the sufferings of others.

She couldn't really say that her relationship with her parents made a huge impact on her. They had never had any kind of relationship with her whatsoever. Yet every time Chloe saw how sweet and loving the parents of Marinette were, the blonde couldn't really control neither her emotions nor actions. 

_‘Argh. That Marinette. Stay out of my thoughts and memories, will you?’_ Chloe thought, irritated. 

She snapped herself back into reality, or whatever was there where she was now. She had lost the connection to her reality long ago. Chloe looked around, searching for Chat, but the troublesome superhero was nowhere to be found.

  
  


Chloe awkwardly looked down, staring at her palm that Adrien had been holding not that long ago. 

No, wait. Adrien was holding her hand. Didn't matter.

_‘Obviously, Chlo, you just have to deal with it. Like you always do. Yourself,’_ the blonde thought, reassuring herself and trying to decide what to do next.

Her first impression was correct — she was standing in her home. But her gut was screaming at her saying that the point in time she found herself in was still wrong. The next moment, she heard a little voice nearby. Her own little voice. The sound was coming from somewhere just around the corner of the long hall she had found herself only a few minutes before.

Chloe carefully and silently stepped toward the source of the sound and went into the spacious living room. In the center, on a beautiful sofa, she found the girl whose voice she had heard on multiple occasions. Chloe found that it was nearly impossible to admit that her younger self was completely alone, yet completely unaffected by the dark and gloomy atmosphere of the big and empty room. She was softly mumbling to herself, spending quality time with her countless stuffed toys. 

The ‘future’ Chloe walked closer to the sofa, remembering how the girl seemingly had noticed her back at the park. That thought nearly stopped Chloe in her tracks, but she found some residual strength to keep moving, though not without hesitation.

Closing her eyes, Chloe sat on the edge of the sofa a few meters apart from her younger self and silently watched the girl play. The younger Chloe didn't notice her.

_Or she decided not to notice her_.

Considering her options, Chloe decided to stick with the former rather than the latter. 

A few minutes had passed. Or maybe a few dozen of them had. Chloe honestly didn't care as she was closely watching herself. 

Chloe was deeply lost in her own mind, wondering about what the little cute ray of sunshine before her could possibly be thinking about. Why did people only see her as a spoiled mayor's daughter? Why did everyone expect her to change? She was happy with her current self.

Why didn't they want to change?

Chloe heard an adult voice and snapped back to reality. One of the service staff members came to Chloe to take her to bed. With great reluctance and a short scene, her younger self finally agreed to go to sleep. They left Chloe alone with her thoughts in the dark and gloomy atmosphere of the impending night.

Chloe was neither blind, nor was she deaf. She knew perfectly well what other people thought about her. They thought she was an egotistical, selfish, and spoiled brat whose mind was only busy with thoughts of how to put others in danger for her own benefit.

Her whole entire life she thought that it was the only way to succeed. That was what she was taught and how she was raised. It was the basis of her world.

But over the last few years, her world was trembling, threatening to break and implode. At some point, she started to think that the implosion was not a question of if, but a question of when.

The raven-haired catastrophe was quickly and successfully making Chloe reconsider some of her life choices. It even made Chloe look at Marinette with some respect and admiration. Chloe always gave credit where credit was due and, it seemed that Marinette was on her quest to change Chloe's life forever.

"What's that about Marinette?" Chloe heard a familiar voice coming from behind. She’d already gotten used to his sudden appearances and now only idly turned her head to Chat.

She found him sitting in the rocking chair in a corner of the room. 

"Don't you know how rude it is to intrude into another person's mind without an invitation?” Chloe chuckled. Standing up, she shook her head thoughtfully. "So, when are you going to start answering my questions?"

"What questions, Chlo?" Chat said, acting surprised. "I literally have no id—"

"Cut the bullshit, Noir," Chloe interrupted. "Why did you bring me here? _HOW_ did you do that? And what the hell is actually going on?"

Chat guiltily gazed down. He knew something and it was obvious even in the blinding darkness.

"Chloe, I can't tell you that," he started, not daring to look up. "My hands are tied and my lips are sealed. All I can really say is that I'm worried about you. And I want to help."

"You're useless," Chloe said, facepalming. "And what's next? We'll just stay here? And you'll spend the night trying to convince me to change? That ain't happening, Agreste."

"But, Chloe, listen..."

"No, YOU listen," she interrupted again. "Each and every one of you is trying to change me. You all are trying to change me into a person you want me to be. Does anyone actually care about what I want? Or it just doesn't matter anymore? You, of all people, should know what it's like to be a puppet without your own voice and opinion. And everyone is trying to convince me that I need to change, that it'll be better that way. I don't care. So be a good boy and put me back where you found me. Let's just stop wasting each other's time, okay?”

"As you wish, Chloe," he whispered.

He raised his hand.

"I know you'll come to your senses. I believe in you, Chlo," he added softly.

Chat waved his hand strangely and then a bright pink beam of light hit her, taking Chloe into the unknown. She did not expect the sudden change in his actions and instinctively closed her eyes. 


	4. Death

Dark, gloomy clouds that were covering the Parisian sky served as a dead giveaway of imminent heavy rain. Everyone unlucky enough to find themselves on the streets around this time hurried to hide from the inevitable soaking, embracing the warmth and comfort of their homes.

  
  


Something told Chloe that Chat didn't just bring her back to reality. It was her intuition, or just common sense, knowing how stubborn Chat was just to let things go.

_ ‘The time seems right, yet something's definitely off,’  _ Chloe thought, looking around and evaluating the circumstances she found herself in.

  
  


From visual observations, Chloe concluded that she was in the middle of the pavement of one of the central streets of Paris. Crowds of people were rushing back and forth near her. It seemed that no one cared to pay any attention to an obviously lost and distraught young woman standing in the middle of the street in front of... 

_ ‘Oh, wait.’ _

Considering the risks, Chloe stuck her shaking hand out to the side. And her fears were confirmed when a guy walking down the street straight fazed through her slightly glowing hand.

_ ‘Oh, come on!’  _ Chloe whined, slapping her face with her own palms 

Her moans were suddenly interrupted by the loud wailing of the siren of an ambulance. And something told her that she needed to pay attention to that sound.

_ ‘Ah, sure, THE FORCE told me,’  _ Chloe sarcastically noted, but still turned her head toward the apparent source of the sound.

Glancing around, Chloe found out that she was standing in front of the entrance of one of the main Paris hospitals. And suddenly the upcoming sound of the siren made much more sense.

The car soon appeared from behind the corner of the street and stopped right before Chloe's feet. Sure, she, with the involuntary help of strangers, had already experimentally found out that nothing in this ‘world’ or this ’reality’ could really cause any harm to her, yet this knowledge didn't help her not to jump away screaming in fear.

The back doors of the ambulance swung wide open and medical staff jumped out of the car and helped to drag the gurney outside. A mere glance at it rendered Chloe catatonic; she felt as if her own stomach was trying to revolt against her and jump outside. Everything suddenly became blurry and the blonde had a really hard time focusing her gaze upon the familiar raven-colored locks of her eternal rival.

A few nurses met the ambulance outside the hospital and took the gurney inside while Chloe struggled to maintain a vertical position. She spent a solid few minutes trying to stand upright and with the corner of her eye, she spotted another familiar car. 

Adrien's limo parked near the hospital. Which only meant that she definitely saw Marinette on the gurney. It hadn’t been her imagination.

Adrien sprinted out of the car and soon ran past the doors of the hospital.

Chloe was quick to put two and two together and, not wasting any more time, hurried to follow Adrien, trying to stay right behind him; she ignored everyone else on her way. Not that it mattered, she was, after all, some weird ghost that did not belong to this world.

A few minutes passed before Adrien finally stopped. They had gone very deep into the corridors of the hospital. They soon found themselves in front of the doors of the operation room.

"...Miraculous Cure didn't work?" Chloe heard the concerned voice of a nurse. "Well, I'm not going to lie to you,  _ Mr. _ Agreste, our experience in treating those kinds of injuries is very limited but we'll do what we can to help her.

And Chloe saw how his shoulders dropped. It was obvious that Adrien was on the verge of breaking into tears. She didn't even have to listen to what he had to say to understand that Adrien thought that it was all his fault. She knew him well enough to catch his feelings and thoughts without actually having to listen to him.

Adrien silently fell on one of the sofas placed along the walls near the doors. 

He burrowed his face into his hands, but Chloe could still hear his muffled cry and see how his shoulders shuddered.

Chloe took a seat near Adrien and unsuccessfully tried to place her hand onto his shoulder. 

"I'm so sorry, Adrien," she whispered.

Adrien wasn't going anywhere, obviously. Not until he got news about Marinette's condition. So she had to stay until then too. 

With that in mind, she sat back on the sofa and closed her eyes, deciding that they both needed to get some proper rest.

***

Chloe jumped up and immediately fell down on her knees. Taking a look around, she couldn't precisely determine for how long she had actually slept. But she did notice Adrien's absence and only how dim was the light in the hall. By her calculations, at least a couple of hours had passed and the time had to have been somewhere around midnight.

The blonde stood up and shuddered, trying to shake the drowsy feeling. Although she’d hardly been sleeping, it was more of torture, a nightmare that you can't wake up from. The only thing she saw in her dreams was Marinette's face. The girl was reproachfully staring directly at her.

_ ‘This is all on you,’ _ Chloe heard her voice from the dream.

Chloe shrugged once more and shook her head. Now was not the time to think about it.

Now was the time to find Marinette and at least try to find out what had actually happened.

Chloe spent a few dozen minutes wandering along the long and empty corridors of the hospital until she finally found the wing where Marinette presumably was.

She was fast to track down the reception and saw a few night shift nurses mundanely chatting about something. And she was also quick to understand how little this discovery actually helped her. How would she approach them and actually ask anything if they could neither hear nor see her? There wasn't an easy way to know the whereabouts of Dupain-Cheng, that was for sure.

She sniffed around them for a couple of minutes in order to find any visual clues about Marinette's room. She didn't find a single helpful hint and sat on a chair placed near the wall, letting out a tired sigh.

"I'll have to spend an eternity to find her. What do I do now?”

"Who knows, Chloe? You can just ask," Chloe heard a voice near her. The voice sounded so familiar that she instinctively jumped to her feet, but inevitably lost her balance and dropped down on her knees.

The blonde somehow made herself look up and choked on nothing To say the least, she was surprised. Ladybug was sitting near her chair.

"Y-you?" Chloe asked, her voice shaking. "What are you doing here?"

Ladybug only arched her brow, carefully looking at Chloe with surprise in her eyes. The superheroine stood up shaking her head, and gestured to the blonde to follow her.

For a few minutes, they walked down the hospital corridors, dead silence hanging between them. Chloe was too scared to say anything, and, apparently, Ladybug wasn't planning on saying anything either.

Finally, they stopped before one of the hospital rooms. Near the door, Chloe spotted a small card with her rival's name handwritten on it.

"We're here," Ladybug said, breaking the silence. 

"Okay," Chloe answered sheepishly, swallowing hard.

Nervously glancing over her shoulder, the blonde saw the superheroine was waiting for Chloe to make the first move.

With her shaking hands, she finally managed to open the door and stepped inside.

A dark and unwelcoming hospital room, illuminated by nothing but dim moonlight coursing through the curtains and the light of the monitors, greeted her with pure hostility. It showered the blonde with the atmosphere of despair. The hospital smell, which Chloe hated already, and the rhythmic beeping just added to the feeling of sadness and grief that hit her when she entered the room.

Chloe took a quick look at the calendar hanging on the wall and managed to make out a date, even though it was somewhat difficult to see in the low light of the room. Chloe’s hands were starting to shake. It was still the day when it all started. The day when Mistress attacked her. The day when she stripped Marinette's victory away. 

Undoubtedly, everything was connected. Chloe just needed to figure out how and why.

The blonde turned to Marinette's hospital bed. Her face and hands were bandaged and Chloe could hardly even see her face. But she had no doubt that it was her. The guilt flushed her mind. And she still wasn't quite sure how exactly everything turned out the way it had, but something deep inside told her, no,  _ screamed  _ at her that everything happened because of her. Overwhelmed, Chloe seemed to forget how to breathe. Gasping for air, she knelt before the bed. The blonde gazed down to the floor and gently put her hand over Marinette's, fully expecting that her palm would go straight through her hand. But her hand landed right onto her soft and warm skin.

Surprised and frightened, Chloe pulled back her hand, closely inspecting it and her own whole body. 

No, nothing had changed. The same stupid light was still there.

"I felt that," Ladybug said quietly. "Amazing, isn't it?"

"I'm not sure, I would use that word, but... Sure," Chloe answered, closely looking at her wrist.

“And you still don’t get it, do you?” Ladybug looked at her, surprised and a little bit disappointed. “Well, isn’t that weird? You seemed to understand everything Chat was trying to convey to you very quickly. “

Chloe swallowed hard; her worst fears were about to come true.

“What happened?”

“Do you really want to know?” Ladybug asked quietly. “Are you still holding onto that possibility that this…” She gestured towards Marinette. “...has nothing to do with what happened earlier? Or has nothing to do with what you did?”

"But I didn't... I mean, it couldn't..." Chloe tried to defend herself, but words caught in her throat when she looked into the tired eyes of Ladybug. Another realization threatened to hit her harder than the previous one. 

The shock from knowing the Chat Noir's identity hadn't really worn off yet and Chloe could hardly believe that it had really happened and now this? The superheroine, who helped Chloe on numerous occasions? The one who she looked up to? The one woman in the costume that had been and still was a hero for her and the whole city?

No, it was just impossible. Marinette couldn't be Ladybug. How ridiculously small were the chances of that?

"They  _ are _ small, Chloe," Ladybug suddenly broke the silence again.

"And you too? What's with the mind-reading from you two? Don't you know how rude it is?" Chloe snorted.

_ ‘No. This is impossible. It's probably just her vivid imagination. She's just under an akuma attack, right? It's all nothing, but a nightmare. Everything's under control. Ladybug, who is definitely not Marinette, will soon save her and everything will go back to norm…’ _

Chloe turned her head a few times looking between Ladybug and Marinette. No, she had to admit, even if she had gone mad, she must have had a pretty decent imagination. Everything just made too much sense. Too many things lined up.

Chloe raised her hands, closely inspecting her shaking fingers. She felt the tears of guilt starting to make their way down her cheeks. 

“What happened?” Chloe repeated her question from before. She needed to hear it. She needed the confirmation.

"Well, you know it for the most part," Ladybug said thoughtfully. "I had to fight the akuma that hit you when it wasn't my brightest day. I'm sure  _ you _ know what I mean. And we won. Yet we paid a terrible price."

"Terrible price?" Chloe echoed. "But she... You'll wake up, right? And everything will be the same as before? And what about the miraculous cu…”

Chloe stopped halfway through, remembering what the nurse told Adrien a few hours before. 

Ladybug sighed and lowered her head.

"I'm afraid, Chloe, the consequences of your actions will be much worse, and not only Marinette will get hurt in the process." Ladybug said with all seriousness.

"W-what do you m..." Chloe tried to ask, but the superheroine raised her hand, stopping the blonde.

"Do you want to know?" Ladybug asked again, reaching out to Chloe. The blonde took her hand, swallowing hard. It didn't look as though she had much choice.

The superheroine gently waved her arm and bright pink light washed all over Chloe, taking her away to the new unknown, which, Chloe assumed, she certainly would not like.

***

The sudden change in the surroundings was hardly subtle. The dim and cold light of the hospital room disappeared and the dead darkness of a street, illuminated only by a half-moon, took its place. 

An instant shiver marched down Chloe's spine, but the cold autumn air was not to blame. No, the actual reason was still hidden from her, but the imminent feeling of grief and pain in the air was almost palpable. 

It didn't take much of her processing power to connect the dots and understand that Marinette's incident was somehow connected with that feeling, the feeling threatening to crush her. 

And Ladybug, unlike Chat, decided not to leave her alone this time. She was standing close as if she were waiting for Chloe to do something.

"L-Ladybug?" Chloe asked, nerves getting the better of her. "What are we doing here?"

"You know, Chloe," Ladybug said wistfully. "I didn't lie when I said that the consequences would be much more serious than you could think"

She threw her arm in the air and one incredibly thin and bright lightning bolt went through her fingertips and exploded into a thousand tiny sparks above their heads, lighting the street that Ladybug had placed them on. 

Chloe looked around and the blood ran still in her veins. She was still seeing Paris around her. But destroyed and desolated. Empty. 

Nearly every window in every house was broken, huge cracks and holes in the pavement. Dead trees, burnt grass, and crashed cars. The atmosphere was suffocating; it reeked of emptiness, devastation, and death.

She hadn't noticed any of this before, but now she didn't dare look away. Feeling dizzy, Chloe slowly got down on her knees, fully aware that her legs wouldn't comply much longer.

"Welcome to the end of the world, Chloe," Ladybug said quietly. "You already saw how it all started. Now you'll see how it'll end."

The superheroine helped her up and gestured towards one of the main squares. Or what was left of it.

Ladybug took a few steps forward, but when she looked back, she saw Chloe standing, frozen in place.

She couldn't make herself move even one muscle. She just couldn't. 

Ladybug sighed and went back to Chloe. She took her hand, leading her forward.

"B-But how?" she managed to ask, her voice distraught. "Ladybug, I just don't underst~."

"After that incident with the akuma, everything went from bad to worse," she explained. "Hawkmoth somehow figured out that I was out of the picture and threw, seemingly, everything he had at poor Chat Noir. He did his best. And he lost. And with his help, Hawkmoth found me."

Ladybug went silent. Maybe she was giving Chloe some time to think everything over, or maybe she just couldn't continue her speech, feeling overwhelmed. Chloe saw perfectly well how tears were gathering at the corners of her big blue eyes. 

"You don't mean that you're actually... " Chloe whispered.

Ladybug suddenly stopped before one of the deep cracks in the asphalt. 

"Yes, that is exactly what I mean. We  _ lost,  _ Chloe," Ladybug said, dropping her head low.

"But..." the blonde started, nervously looking around. "What happened here?" 

"Exactly what Chat Noir and I tried to prevent," Ladybug stopped again, letting Chloe go forward. And since she had regained some of her strength, she found that she could actually move on her own.

She was slowly making her way forward through the cracks and breaches in asphalt, feeling the determination to get to the root of what had actually happened and reverse everything. Somehow. 

She knew she needed to get to the square that Ladybug had pointed to.

Ladybug.

_ Ladybug. _

And she suddenly understood that she didn't hear her steps, and no longer felt her presence.

The bright pink light created by Ladybug disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving her in the dead of the night, completely helpless and all alone.

“Ladybug?” Chloe cried out. “Come back to me! Please! This is not the end! This just can't be! There’s always a chance to fix everything!”

Her desperate calls were interrupted by a bright yellow flash that broke out in the middle of the ruined square. Chloe sharply turned towards the light and saw the tall, dark silhouette. And the storming wind and blizzard that had suddenly risen made it significantly harder to know who the figure was. But Chloe somehow knew that she needed to get to them, whatever it took.

She bolted forward, not caring about fear or tiredness. Nature itself rebelled against her with the wind trying to knock her down and a raging blizzard obscuring her vision so much that she could hardly see a thing in front of her. Chloe stumbled and fell down, falling just a few meters short of her goal. Her palms were cut and knees made a painful connection with the rough surface of the broken asphalt. 

Spitting curses, she gazed up and saw that she landed right in front of the figure. Inspecting the black cape and the hood covering their face, Chloe froze in horror as she spotted the blonde locks peeking out. 

"T-this is impossible!" her voice breaking. "You?!"

The woman in front of her slowly leaned in to hear. She offered help, which Chloe took with a great deal of hesitation. With her free hand, she pulled off her hood, nearly making Chloe jump away.

"Well hello, Chloe," she told herself. 

The blonde swallowed nervously, feeling the dizziness coming back to her with full strength. It wasn’t the fact that she was looking into her own eyes scared her. The Chloe from the ‘future’, looked as though she'd been through literal hell. The ‘younger’ Chloe’s eyes carefully swept over the cloak the other Chloe was wearing: ragged, dusted, worn out. Chloe noticed deep lacerations and multiple nasty bruises on her future self's thighs. The bloodstains on the hood added to the impression of horror. Chances were, it was her own blood.

And the feeling of terror didn't go away but hit her with even greater strength when Chloe looked at her own face. She had deep, long, and lasting cuts on her cheeks and the blonde hair that fell down on her face tangled in every way imaginable. They, obviously, hadn't seen proper care or even a shower in ages and no longer shone like they used to.

"Wh- How?" the past Chloe spoke. "What happened to you?  _ To us?” _

"I had to face the consequences of what you... Of what we’d done," Chloe closed her eyes, dropping her head down. "I tried to fix everything, I tried to change something. But it was too late.”

Saying that, the future Chloe turned around and gestured somewhere in front of her. The wind and the blizzard were becoming all the more severe and the original Chloe couldn't actually see what she was pointing out.

Making a few difficult steps forward, breaking through scolding wind and snow, Chloe finally found what the future Chloe was gesturing towards. And her heart forgot that it was supposed to be beating. Now it became completely obvious what that Chloe meant by saying that "it was too late".

Chloe stumbled upon a lifeless body. Her own body. Falling down on her knees, she reached out and gently stroked the cheeks of the girl lying in front of her. They were already cold.

Tears started pouring uncontrollably down her cheeks as the blizzard grew stronger and stronger, making it nearly impossible to breathe.

"It's over, Chloe," her own voice called out to her from behind, sounding amazingly clear despite the deafening noise of the wind.

"But it can't..." she tried to answer, sobbing. "I can change everything! It's not too late!"

"I'm afraid it is." the future Chloe replied coldly, gesturing to the body.

Saying that, she put her bloodstained hood on and sharply turned away, stepping right into the raging blizzard that was tightening its grip around them, leaving Chloe's sight. 

"W-wait!" she pleaded, standing up. "I know what to do! I know how to change everything! Give me a chance! I need..."

Her scream cut off.

The blizzard was coming closer and closer, not leaving even a chance for the other Chloe to hear her. And, evidently, she had no plans to.

Chloe again fell down on her knees and hid her face into her palms.

The raging noise of the wind, the burning sensation of snow hitting her hands. Her own tears.

“Just give me one more chance,” Chloe whispered. “I can change. I will change. Please.”

_ It's over. _

Soft, silver, hardly noticeable light blew out.


	5. Afterlife

Chloe opened her eyes wide and jumped on her bed, looking around frightenedly. With her shaking hands, she snatched the phone from the bedside table and unlocked it to see a date and time.

She allowed a relieved sigh to escape her lungs. The screen lit with the date when everything had started. The day when Mistress had shown up.

Had it just been a dream? Was it still a dream? Chloe carefully examined her own hands. No signs of the cuts or blood which she had gotten from the devastated future Paris. And, most importantly, no sign of the strange dim light coming out of her.

And then there was the fact that she now knew Chat Noir and Ladybug's identities. Were the conclusions from the "other" reality applicable to this one? It was really hard to argue with logic, considering how her eyes were now open to Marinette and Adrien's strange disappearances during akuma attacks. 

Either way, Chloe decided to push those thoughts away, at least for the moment. She had a more urgent task at hand. The promise she'd given in her dream... Or was it in the other reality? It had never actually felt like a dream. 

_ ‘But dreams rarely feel like dreams, right? Well, it doesn't matter.’ _

Someone or something had shown her the consequences of her actions. The talks with Chat, Marinette's injury, the destruction of Paris, and her own death. It was enough to shake anyone's world. And even if it didn't actually happen, it definitely helped her to see things differently. It felt like... She felt like she was...

A quiet knocking on her door interrupted her thought process.

"Mlle. Bourgeois? Are you awake? You'll need to leave for school soon."

Chloe hesitated a bit before answering. Every second of this day she remembered all too well. Every other moment sparked a déjà vu feeling from within. 

"Yeah, I am. Thanks," she answered cautiously.

And the start of this day perfectly aligned with that day when Mistress appeared. The difference was Chloe distraughtly stumbling around the rooms. Staff still tried to avoid her, but it was definitely from force of habit and not because of something Chloe said or did.

Chloe was nearly finished doing her makeup when she heard a familiar voice. She swallowed as she turned towards Sabrina. That was how it had all started.

"Em... Hey? What are you doing here so early, Sabrina?" Chloe asked nervously.

She just arched her eyebrow in response. 

"Because I am always here this early?" Sabrina said. "Anyhow, I know you don't like it, but I still went and did your schedule for the next few weeks. Please don't be mad.”

Chloe distractedly gazed at her, not being sure how to react or what to say and Sabrina, obviously, interpreted her reaction very wrong and tried to hide the beautifully designed foldery. 

"It's okay, Sabrina," Chloe said, trying to calm her down as she took the folder out of her hands. She dared to peek inside it and was truly amazed by the way Sabrina compiled her schedule. Everything was distributed exactly the way she liked and the way she would've done herself. The blonde looked up, arching her eyebrows. "This... This is very well done." 

"R-Really?" Sabrina said in response, her eyes shining happily. "I'm so glad you like it!"

A sudden rush of feelings washed over Chloe, making her launch forward and give a big hug to her red-haired friend.

  
  


"Thanks, Sabrina," Chloe whispered, gently stroking her back.

The confusion in her response to Chloe's action was almost too obvious and she hesitated before finally releasing a relieved sigh and hugging her back. 

"Okay, we're good," Chloe said, letting go of Sabrina. "Now go or we are both going to be late."

"R-Right! See you later?" she asked, taking a few steps back. 

"Sure!" Chloe smiled. She watched Sabrina leave as she gently placed her hand on her chest, feeling unbelievable warmth washing over her body. She couldn't quite remember when the last time she had felt anything like that. And it was such a huge contrast to what had  _ not-happened _ to her just the day before.

With that in mind, she returned to getting ready for school, and to her own surprise, she wasn't late for the first class. 

The first half of the day went absolutely the same as she saw before, though there was one change: this time Sabrina was close to her. time to time, the blonde noticed how Sabrina was looking at her and smiling, which made the fire inside Chloe's heart grow all the stronger. 

Lunchtime was just around the corner and Chloe knew full well what was coming. The competition results.

And Chloe was finding herself looking at Marinette as often as she was looking at Sabrina. She felt genuine happiness seeing her eternal rival in good health. And the feeling was weird and extremely uncharacteristic of her, yet she had no plans to try to reject it.

And there it was. The moment when Mlle. Bustier decided that it was the time to announce the competition results. 

"...And Marinette Dupain-Cheng! Congratulations, girls!" she heard again and an instant thought went through her head. An urge. A sense of obligation and responsibility toward the raven-haired girl. 

And it was that kind of impulse that was hard to fight against. And in a split second decision came to her. Chloe knew exactly what she needed to do and no one, not even her past self, could talk her out of this. 

The bell rang and everyone at the class released a collective relieved sigh and started to pick up their things before going to lunch. Chloe, lost in her thoughts, felt a shy touch on her shoulder. She turned her head and spotted Sabrina tapping her shoulder. 

"C-Chloe?" she asked quietly. "Shall we?"

"You go first, I'll catch up with you," Chloe said, a soft smile touching her lips as she gently stroked Sabrina's hand.

She smiled back and ran away, leaving Chloe alone, patiently waiting for when she'd have time to speak with the teacher alone. Marinette, hand-in-hand with Alya, smiled happily. 

Chloe sighed deeply. Strengthening in her resolve, she stood up.

"Excuse me, Mlle. Bustier?" she started, clearing her throat. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure thing, Chloe," she stepped away from the blackboard, turning her attention to the blonde. "Is something wrong?"

"No, everything's alright. It's just..." Chloe said, gathering her thoughts. "I'd like to withdraw from the competition. I want to let Marinette go on her own. She deserves it.”

“C-Chloe, are you sure?” asked Mlle. Bustier, caught off-guard. “Have you thought this through? It's obvious that you deserved it too.“

"Don't worry, I've had more than enough time to think about it," Chloe said, smirking widely. 

"Okay, Chloe," said the teacher, still looking surprised. "I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you," Chloe nodded and left the class, taking her purse. 

With a sensation of staggering levity, she made her way down the stairs and into the schoolyard. She looked around, searching for Sabrina. Coming close to her friend, Chloe gently bumped her shoulder as she sat down near her on the bench. 

"Are you alright, Chloe?" Sabrina asked, looking worried. 

"Never been better," Chloe said, smiling softly and giving her friend another big, heartwarming hug, making her squeal in surprise. 

From the corner of her eye, Chloe spotted Marinette, who was sitting nearby and lively discussing something with Alya. 

_ ‘Thank you, Mari,’  _ Chloe thought to herself with a shy smile. Yet, feeling the unprecedented warmth inside, she spotted Adrien, who was very late but made it to school despite everything. 

_ ‘And you're welcome, dorks,  _ she added to her thoughts. _ Turns out, you two really are made for each other. I hope you will figure it out too.’ _

Chloe felt her cheeks light up as she unconsciously touched them. She was…happy? This was the kind of feeling that she just might get used to. 

  
  


_ My name is Chloe Bourgeois. And this is the story of how I died... _

_... And was born again. _

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to invite you all to a [Miraculous Fanworks](https://discord.gg/mlfanworks) discord server. There we have a lot of beautiful writers, readers, artists and more! We have support, love and cookies and we only miss you! See you there!


End file.
